Memoirs and biographies from Black Americans

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20 memoirs & biographies to read for Black History Month

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Autobiographies, memoirs, and biographies give us a glimpse not only of the life of an individual, but of the context, setting, and current events of the world in which they’ve lived. The following titles illuminate the struggles, triumphs, and humanity of those Black Americans who have carved their legacies in the face of adversity.

Explore these 20 stories about Black life in America on the Libby app. Plus, keep reading to find 10 Black stories for young readers.


John Lewis: A LifeJohn Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg
🎧 Audiobook

A comprehensive, authoritative biography of Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis, "the conscience of the Congress," drawing on interviews with Lewis and approximately 275 others who knew him at various stages of his life, as well as never-before-used FBI files and documents.


Notes from a Young Black ChefNotes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein
🎧 Audiobook

Through it all, Onwuachi’s love of food and cooking remained a constant, even when, as a young chef, he was forced to grapple with just how unwelcoming the food world can be for people of color. In this inspirational memoir about the intersection of race, fame, and food, he shares the remarkable story of his culinary coming-of-age; a powerful, heartfelt, and shockingly honest account of chasing your dreams—even when they don’t turn out as you expected.


Hidden FiguresHidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
🎧 Audiobook

The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space.

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country's future.


I Never Had It MadeI Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson

In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the longstanding color barrier in major league sports, striking a crucial blow for racial equality and changing the world of sports forever. This is Robinson's own candid, hard-hitting account of what it took to become the first Black man in history to play in the major leagues.


On JuneteenthOn Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
🎧 Audiobook

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, this book provides a historian's view of the country's long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.


Dreams from My FatherDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
🎧 Audiobook

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a Black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American.


I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
🎧 Audiobook

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.


The Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassThe Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was an ex-slave and a great orator in early 19th-century America. His autobiography details his experiences as a slave and is considered the most famous such work, though many similar were written by his contemporaries. This work also influenced and fueled the abolitionist movement, in which Douglass was an important figure.


The JazzmenThe Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America by Larry Tye
🎧 Audiobook

From the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.


Lovely OneLovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson
🎧 Audiobook

With this unflinching account, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family’s ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America’s highest court within the span of one generation.


The Fire Next TimeThe Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
🎧 Audiobook

At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism.


Between the World and MeBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
🎧 Audiobook

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.


The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
ONE OF TIME’S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement in America.


BecomingBecoming by Michelle Obama
🎧 Audiobook

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history. She also established herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.


Angela DavisAngela Davis: An Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis

Angela Davis has been a political activist at the cutting edge of the Black Liberation, feminist, queer, and prison abolitionist movements for more than 50 years. First published and edited by Toni Morrison in 1974, An Autobiography is a powerful and commanding account of her early years in the struggle.


Black Gun, Silver StarBlack Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves by Art T. Burton
🎧 Audiobook

U.S. marshal Bass Reeves was an African American who spent his early life enslaved in Arkansas and Texas. Black Gun, Silver Star sifts through fact and legend to discover the truth about one of the most outstanding peace officers in late 19th century America—and arguably the greatest lawman of the Wild West era.


Life in MotionLife In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland
🎧 Audiobook

Determination meets dance in this New York Times bestselling memoir by the history-making ballerina Misty Copeland, recounting the story of her journey to become the first African American principal ballerina at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre.


Death of InnocenceDeath of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson
🎧 Audiobook

In August 1955, a 14-year-old African American, Emmett Till, was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night by two white men and brutally murdered. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman in a convenience store. The killers were eventually acquitted.

What followed altered the course of this country’s history—and it was all set in motion by the sheer will, determination, and courage of Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, whose actions galvanized the Civil Rights Movement, leaving an indelible mark on our racial consciousness. Death of Innocence is an essential document in the annals of American civil rights history, and a painful yet beautiful account of a mother’s ability to transform tragedy into boundless courage and hope.


Bound for the Promised LandBound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson
🎧 Audiobook

Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history—a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. Now, in this magnificent biography, historian Kate Clifford Larson gives us a powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed portrait of Tubman and her times.

Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well as extensive genealogical data, Larson presents Harriet Tubman as a complete human being—brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. A true American hero, Tubman was also a woman who loved, suffered, and sacrificed.


A Mighty Long WayA Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier Page
🎧 Audiobook

When 14-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the landscape of America.


10 Black stories for young readers

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black HistoryLittle Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
🎧 Audiobook

Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in history, this book educates and inspires as it relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations, including: Nurse Mary Seacole, Politician Diane Abbott, Mathematician Katherine Johnson, and Singer Shirley Bassey.


What Is the Civil Rights Movement?What Is the Civil Rights Movement? By Sherri L. Smith
🎧 Audiobook

Relive the moments when African Americans fought for equal rights and made history. Even though slavery had ended in the 1860s, African Americans were still suffering under the weight of segregation a hundred years later. They couldn't go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, or even use the same bathrooms as white people. But by the 1950s, Black people refused to remain second-class citizens and were willing to risk their lives to make a change.


Black Achievements in BusinessBlack Achievements in Business: Celebrating Oprah Winfrey, Moziah Bridges, and More by Robert P. Dixon Jr.
🎧 Audiobook

All types of businesses can help the economy while uplifting the communities they serve. Black business owners have opened restaurants, started media companies, and more. Their work celebrates culture, creates community hubs, and helps pave the way for more people to start their own businesses. From Reginald F. Lewis to Cathy Hughes to Houston White, learn about how Black businesspeople in the past and present have found success and inspired future generations.


Young, Gifted and Black TooYoung, Gifted and Black Too: Meet 52 More Black Icons from Past to Present by Jamia Wilson, illustrated by Andrea Pippins

Covering 52 figures, the book is ideal for educators and homeschoolers studying Black excellence, with a new figure to explore every week of the year. Strong, courageous, talented, and diverse, these extraordinary men and women's achievements will inspire a new generation to chase their dream... whatever it may be.


Find Where the Wind GoesFind Where the Wind Goes by Dr. Mae Jemison

Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, is truly a modern hero with a remarkable, inspirational story to tell. Mae Jemison made history as the first woman of color in space. But she's also taken center stage as an actress, scientist, doctor, and teacher—not to mention all of the "top ten" lists she's made, including People's 50 Most Beautiful People and the 1999 White House Project's list of the seven women most likely to be elected President. The adventures of her life make for a truly compelling read. To top it all, with her charming sense of humor, Mae is a remarkable storyteller. The variety and richness of Mae Jemison's experiences will inspire every reader who picks up this book.


You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce by Chiquita Mullins Lee and Carmella Van Vleet, illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins
🎧 Audiobook

A picture book biography about the barber shop of woodcarver Elijah Pierce, recipient of the highest folk art honor in the United States.

"Creeeeak!" goes the screen door to self-taught artist Elijah Pierce's barbershop art studio. A young boy walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art. Based on the true story of Elijah Pierce and his community barber shop in Columbus, Ohio, this picture book includes cleverly collaged museum-sourced photos of his art and informative backmatter about his life.


PathfindersPathfinders: The Journeys of 16 Extraordinary Black Souls by Tonya Bolden

Over the centuries, untold numbers of Black men and women in America have achieved great things against the odds. Pathfinders is a collective biography of 16 diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries. People who dared to dream, take risks, and create goals not only for themselves, but for others and the betterment of their society, too.


For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better WorldFor Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World by Michael W. Waters and Keisha Morris
🎧 Audiobook

The shootings keep coming, and so do Jeremiah's questions. Dad doesn't have easy answers, but that doesn't mean he won't talk about it—or that he won't act. But what if Jeremiah doesn't want to talk anymore? None of it makes sense, and he's just a kid. Even if he wants to believe in a better world, is there anything he can do about it?

Inspired by real-life events, this honest, intimate look at one family's response to racism and gun violence includes a discussion guide created by the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, a multicultural center and museum committed to promoting respect, hope, and understanding.


Note from a Young Black Chef (Adapted for Young Adults)Notes from a Young Black Chef (Adapted for Young Adults) by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein
🎧 Audiobook

This inspiring memoir, now adapted for young adults, chronicles Top Chef star Kwame Onwuachi's incredible and odds-defying fame in the food world after a tough childhood in the Bronx and Nigeria.


New KidNew Kid by Jerry Craft
🎧 Audiobook

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?


*Title availability may vary by library & region.

Celebrate Black voices, history, and culture through these inspiring stories on the Libby reading app.

Published Feb 04, 2025

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About the Author

Audrey Wynne is part of OverDrive’s North American Public Library team. When she’s not working, she’s reading sci-fi, nature, romance, and books of all genres by BIPOC and women authors.

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